Fired Up
by ShellSueD
Summary: A call from Tank kick starts Ranger's adrenaline and his emotions when he learns Stephanie is in his building and in a mood. **Spoilers for Tricky Twenty-Two**


_JE owns the rights to anything familiar - all mistakes are mine._

This was inspired by the posted chapter 1 teaser of JE's soon-to-be-released new Plum book _Tricky Twenty-Two._ Surprisingly, JE widely opened a door that would lead right to Ranger, but let's be honest, she'll never do it - _so I did._

 _Thanks to **LilyGhost** for the title and summary - I say this a lot, but it's still true: You're the best!_

* * *

I wasn't surprised by the ringing of my phone the second I hit the tarmac at the Newark airport, though I did think twice about answering. The mess in Boston took longer than I anticipated to sort out and after dealing with drama non-stop for the past month, all I wanted was a shower and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep before I had to put out any more fires. A call minutes after my plane landed didn't bode well in my quest for a peaceful homecoming.

I let it vibrate three times before I checked the caller id. _Tank._ Definitely trouble; he never called with good news. It rang once more before I relented.

"What is it, Tank? I'm still on the plane." His subsequent pause had me letting out a small sigh. "You have two seconds before I disconnect." That got him talking.

"We have a situation at the building." He paused again and my patience grew thinner.

"I'm not in the mood for guessing games so explain or handle it yourself."

"Stephanie showed up a few minutes ago and is requesting the use of the gun range."

I felt my spine stiffen in response. Steph hated using her gun and getting her to the range took a great deal of bribery. "Is she having issues with an FTA?"

"Not that I know of. Per your protocol, we've been monitoring her case load and they've all been uneventful, at least for her. I've had a team on standby in case she needed assistance but it hasn't been necessary; she's taken in several on her own the past few weeks without incident. The cops and the fire department were called out yesterday for one that turned into a jumper but it all ended without a mishap."

Then it had to be something personal and my money was on the cop. "She still sharing Morelli's bed?"

"As far as I know but you didn't give directives on monitoring her personal life." I detected a hint of irritation in his tone and moved on.

"What was her demeanor when she got there?"

"Stressed, almost to the point of manic but mostly she just seems royally ticked off. Do you want me to allow her access to firearms while she's in this mindset?"

"You sound like you think that's a bad idea."

"No, I think it's a _horrible_ idea. If it were up to me I'd lock her in one of the padded cells in the basement and not let her out until she calmed down."

If he thought she was already pissed off, locking her up would only make it worse. He'd be lucky to make it out with his nuts still intact.

"Let her use it, but have someone with her until I can get there."

Tank exhaled a quiet breath through his nose. "Do you have anyone in mind for this suicide mission?"

"It will be fine," I assured him. "Hector or Zip, or both. She seems to have bonded with those two over the last few months."

"No good. They're working a job on the other side of town."

"Who's available?"

"Ram, Lester and Hal. And Bobby should be back momentarily."

"Lester will annoy her too much and Hal's scared of her so send Ram. She gets distracted by his eyes; maybe he can talk her down. Unless _you_ want to give it a shot."

"Only if you make it an order."

"Send Ram," I said again. "I'll be there in thirty."

I hadn't let myself think of her much since I'd been gone but now the thoughts flowed freely as I made my way to the passenger pick-up area. The last conversation we'd had she mentioned how well she thought things were going with Morelli. I was understandably skeptical.

 _What did the douchebag do this time, Babe?_

It was how their pattern went - he'd inevitably piss her off – she'd leave but eventually go back and then they'd start all over again - but I'd never seen it get so bad she'd _willing_ want to use her gun. Had he finally done something so despicable she couldn't or _wouldn't_ be able to forgive him? Or had she simply grown weary of the on-again-off- again merry-go-round they attempted to pass off as a relationship?

As I spotted Manny at the wheel of my Cayenne, I found myself hoping for a little bit of both.

After we arrived in the Rangeman garage, I sent Manny upstairs and headed right for the range. Since I didn't receive another call on the thirty minute drive, I was assuming she hadn't shot a member of my staff, but I cautiously pulled open the door anyway and poked my head in.

The air was thick with gunpowder residue and Ram was leaning against the back wall with headphones firmly in place and safety goggles covering his silver eyes, which were intently focused on Stephanie and her complete obliteration of the paper target in front of her. He obviously hadn't been able to distract her in the slightest.

I stepped in the room and he acknowledged my presence with a quick nod. I crossed the space between us and he held up a hand showing three fingers, indicating how many rounds were left in her current clip. Stephanie burned the rest and then spun around to ask him for another.

She started in surprise at my unexpected appearance but graced me with a smile before her mouth fell back into a frown. Ram made a quick exit, leaving us alone and Stephanie set her empty gun on the platform just as I reached her side. I gently removed her ear protection and slid her goggles from her face.

"Want to tell me why you're destroying all my targets?"

"Because I'll get arrested if I shoot Morelli."

"Only if you get caught, and I'm guessing he probably deserves a bullet wound anyway."

Her lips twitched at the corners but the grin was short lived. She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and said, "You haven't been around in a while."

"True. I had work in Boston but I'm here now. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Are you kicking me out?"

"No. Do you want to shoot some more? I can have the targets replaced with photos of Morelli's face."

That got me a full-fledged smile. "That's okay; my hand was starting to hurt anyway." She glanced down and absently rubbed at her palm. I took her sore hand in mine and began massaging her fingers.

"Have you eaten?" I asked, keeping up the slow kneading.

"Not hungry," she murmured as her eyes drifted shut under the steady ministrations.

"Not even for chocolate cake?"

Her eyes snapped back open, fully alert. "You have cake? _Real_ cake? Or that weird gluten-free, fat-free stuff that _lies_ about being cake?"

"Real. Yesterday was Luis' birthday and I'm sure Ella made him his favorite. There are always leftovers."

I could tell she really wanted to say yes, but was being cautious. We'd been keeping our distance and this was the first time we'd touched each other in months. I'd missed it. I'd missed _her_ but now wasn't the time to bring it up.

"I really shouldn't since I think I ate the entire contents of 7-Eleven last night."

Sugar was her go to for comfort but apparently it didn't do the trick this time. "That bad, huh?" She shrugged and I tried again. "C'mon, one piece and then I'll take you home."

She held my gaze for a beat and that's when I started to realize I was in trouble. "What if I don't _want_ to go home?"

Yep. _Serious trouble._ I knew that look and it was going to be difficult to turn down. "We can discuss that over dessert."

I tugged on the hand I was already holding, and led her out of the gun range. With my free one, I sent a quick text to Ella and asked her to bring a piece of cake to my apartment and to open a bottle of merlot.

Between the sugar and the wine, I was betting I could get her to tell me what Morelli had done.

She was quiet on the elevator ride to the penthouse and I didn't try to start another conversation. She'd talk when she was ready. I kept her hand firmly in mine and only released it when I sat her down on a stool at the breakfast bar and lifted the silver dome concealing the slice of Black Forest cake beneath. A small smile found her lips as she ogled the dessert. "That looks good."

"One way to find out." I handed her a fork and she only hesitated for a second before digging in. I poured out two glass of wine while she ate and smiled when she washed down the cake with half of the glass.

"I think I might be in love with Ella," she said after licking the last of the frosting off the fork.

"I'll let her know, but Luis is a jealous man, so be careful."

Stephanie gave me a crooked grin and finished off her wine while I stood on the other side of the counter and sipped mine. I refilled her glass but she only cradled it in both hands and stared into it as if hoping the liquid would offer a solution to all her problems. Several beats of silence went by with me watching her watch her wine. I was on the verge of trying to coax it out of her when she stood suddenly and set the glass on the granite.

"I should go. Thanks for the dessert and the wine and...Thank you."

 _"Stephanie."_ She was about to cry and there was no way I was letting her leave. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened."

A tear raced down her smooth cheek but she held it together and told me what I already suspected. "Joe dumped me."

"Moron," I said, but she wasn't finished.

"While we were in bed. _Naked._ Who does that?" I worked the muscle in my jaw while I silently diffused the flare of jealously the thought of someone other than me putting their hands on her naked skin caused. The fact it was Morelli made it even worse but I knew I didn't have any right to feel that way so I clamped it down and said what I knew she needed to hear.

"Assholes do that. You should have shot him. No jury would convict you. Did he give a reason?"

Steph smiled, as I was hoping she would, and came around to where I was. She set her fork in the sink and leaned on the counter across from me.

"That's probably true and yeah, he had a reason. He said he was thinking about a lifestyle change and needed to be uninvolved while he figured it out so was giving me free license to see anyone I wanted."

"Generous of him," I said, not even trying to conceal the sarcasm.

"Yeah," she replied in the same tone. "Except for the part where he excluded _you_ from the _anyone_ part."

"That does seem like a caveat he'd issue." _Fucking rat bastard._ I might have to put a bullet in him myself.

"Yep, but all it really did was make me want to get in your bed and never get out again."

"How fortuitous for me," I responded and had to will myself not to pick her up and carry right to the aforementioned bed.

Stephanie smiled again and slid her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "But that would be a bad idea. I'd be using you for revenge sex."

"You can use me anyway you want to, Babe." I gripped the edge of the counter until my knuckles started to hurt so I wouldn't touch her.

She let out frustrated sigh and I knew exactly how she felt. "You're supposed be discouraging me, Ranger. You know I can't control myself around you."

Humor was something we both fell back on when we couldn't or _wouldn't_ own up to what was really going on between us but she wasn't pulling any punches tonight so I responded in kind.

"Same goes; it's why we've barely been in the same room together the last six months. I want you every time I touch you, Stephanie, and believe me I'd like nothing more than to take you to bed right now but you're not ready and you'd hate yourself in the morning because you'd know it was just to get back at that idiot who can't figure out you're the best thing that's ever happened to him."

Another tear tracked down her cheek and I completely lost my resolve to keep space between us when the next whispered sentenced left her mouth. "I wish I could be the best thing that ever happened to _you_."

I reached out and pulled her against my chest, sliding my arms around her waist as hers came up to circle my neck. She was the best thing I'd ever been lucky enough to have in my life, the one thing that made me feel good again, that made me feel _human_ again and I was an asshole for never letting her know what she means to me.

As I held her, I realized I was on the same page as Morelli. It was time to start thinking about a lifestyle change – at least a partial one - only I didn't need or _want_ to be uninvolved to make it happen.

"You are, Babe. _You are_."

I made a promise to myself right then that I would do whatever it took to prove it to her.


End file.
